One Shots and Plot Bunnies
by Garm88
Summary: Various One-Shots and story ideas that don't quite warrant their own publication.  Some I might continue, some I might allow others to continue in my place.  Enjoy.
1. Frontier Brain One

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

One-Shot: Frontier Brain

AN: So I've had Pokémon on the brain for a few months now, and I've got a lot of background written up for a story that starts right after Ash's gym battle with Brock and diverges in a few key areas. But this isn't that! It's a one-shot. The first in a probable series of one-shots in my new Pokémon scraps archive. I'll be adding everything in here that I put down in words that doesn't warrant its own publication. If someone wants to take over a snippet, feel free to ask and I may agree.

* * *

><p>Ash looked at Scott shocked, the plaque holding his frontier symbols almost slipped from his slack fingers before he snapped out of it. Shaking his head he glanced down at his award and then back up at Scott.<p>

"Are you serious? You really want me to become a Frontier Brain?"

Scott just laughed boisterously, "why wouldn't I, Ash? You're one of the best battlers I've ever seen! Especially now that that Charizard of yours is listening to you!"

Ash flinched slightly at the reminder of his very first Pokémon League Conference before nodding his head, accepting Scott's point.

"So, what exactly would being a Frontier Brain require?" Ash asked tentatively, if he had to give up his journey…

Scott beamed at him, sensing an opening "Surprisingly little, actually. Since you've beaten all of the current Brains you're going to be last in the rotation and, believe me, you'll have _plenty_ of forewarning when someone manages to beat Brandon."

The fifteen year old looked contemplative, this actually wasn't sounding so bad. "So, how would I get back to Kanto if I'm out of the region?"

"Ash, really! Brandon has a flying pyramid! Getting back to Kanto would be the absolute least of your worries. Of course Anabel could always help you train an Abra; you could use a psychic type…" Scott trailed off rubbing his chin, imagining Ash's completely unorthodox battle style incorporating an Alakazam.

Ash looked deep in thought for a few moments, ignoring Scott's silent contemplation of him. He glanced at Pikachu, riding his shoulder as always. Pikachu looked back at his trainer and gave a little grin and nod "Cha!"

"I'll do it" Ash suddenly said, completely interrupting Scott's ramblings about what type of Pokémon Ash should try to capture. What the hell was a Gible, anyway?

Scott broke into a huge grin and clapped his hands together "that's fantastic! I can't wait to inform the others, this is going to be absolutely huge!"

Scott's enthusiasm was so contagious that Ash found himself grinning and bouncing on the balls of his feet a little bit, this was going to be awesome! "So, what do I do first?"

His new boss immediately settled down and gave Ash a solemn look "now Ash, now we do one of the worst, most awful, most horrendous tasks required of us."

Ash wasn't so sure this was a good idea anymore.

"Paperwork!"

Okay, so maybe it wasn't all that bad.

* * *

><p>It really <em>was<em> all that bad! This had to be the most boring thing he'd ever done in his life!

"Okay, Ash, we need to head to Pallet town next."

"Why's that, Scott?"

Scott looked unusually solemn and pierced Ash with a serious look for once "Ash, you're still a minor, that means that you can't become a Frontier Brain without your mother's consent. We need her to finalize the contract and accept the salary into your current bank account in your name."

Ash paled temporarily and started to hyperventilate a little bit before calming down with noticeable effort "Oh man, I completely forgot about what my Mom would say about this whole thing!"

Scott broke out into a tiny grin but quickly smothered it. Getting up he twirled something around his finger. Ash paled when he realized what it was. Car keys. Oh, crap.

* * *

><p>"If I die I'm taking you with me!"<p>

"Pikaaaa!"

"What? Sorry, I can't hear you over the sound of how awesome my car is!" Scott yelled as his car hit a bump on the unpaved Route One and got some air time. When they crashed back to the ground, cushioned by the surprisingly extensive suspension system, Scott floored it even harder, pushing Ash back into his seat with acceleration.

* * *

><p>Ash stumbled out of the car after it had screeched to a halt outside his Pallet Town home. Bending over with his hands on his knees, the teen dry heaved a few times, Pikachu doing the exact same next to him before they both straightened up and took a deep breath.<p>

"So Ash, this is where you grew up eh? Nice place, quiet place, I don't think we would want to ruin it with a big old Frontier facility, how about you?"

Ash looked around his childhood home, the idyllic setting putting a smile on his face, and silently agreed with Scott. Smiling, he ran up to the door and practically busted it down in his anticipation of telling his mother the good news, completely forgetting his earlier terror.

"Mom! Hey Mom, you here?"

"Mime!"

"In here honey!"

Ash turned to look into the kitchen where he saw his mother and Mimey washing up after their lunch. Completely forgetting his earlier nausea caused by Scott's driving, Ash's stomachs gave out a mighty growl and he laughed sheepishly, hand on the back of his head.

Delia Ketchum quickly wiped her hands on a dish cloth before rushing over to her son and pulling him into a rib cracking hug. "It's so good to see you again Ashy! How are you doing? How was the Battle Frontier?"

Ash blushed momentarily at the nickname before perking up with a huge smile on his face. Turning to look over his shoulder he nodded to Pikachu who proceeded to open up his backpack and dive in.

Delia looked confused at the furiously rustling backpack, but when Pikachu popped up out of the opening holding Ash's plaque and symbols above his head victoriously, she couldn't help the proud, beaming smile that came across her face.

"Oh, that's wonderful! I'm so proud of you!" Delia enthused, going in for another hug.

Ash opened his arms and closed his eyes in anticipation, but when nothing came he cracked his right eyelid open before his jaw dropped and his arms fell weakly to the side. Delia walked away with Pikachu cuddled in her arms enthusing over how he was "the strongest Pikachu in the world" and how he "made her so proud she could just burst". Pikachu, typically, was eating it up.

Ash briefly scowled "tch, typical" but started to smile again as he saw his mother look back at him and give him her proudest grin ever.

"Nice place you got here, Ash, very homey, very quaint but not in a bad way, I like it. Might have to buy myself a vacation home here for when I need to get away from it all and settle down."

"Oh, Scott! Sorry, in all the excitement of seeing my Mom again I completely forgot what we were here to do" Ash laughed sheepishly.

"No worries, Ash! It's a great feeling coming home again after so long away. So, where's your mother so we can finalize these signatures?" Scott asked, holding up a thick folder of documents.

"Ash honey, who's your friend?" Delia asked, coming back from putting Ash's Frontier plaque in his display of accomplishments.

"Ah! Sorry, let me introduce myself Ma'am. My name is Scott, and I own the Battle Frontier that your amazingly talented son just finished demolishing."

Ash was blushing from the praise but couldn't help the stupidly proud grin that came over his face. He was amazing, wasn't he?

"Mom, Scott and I have something we need to talk to you about" Ash said, trying to sound serious but his silly grin and the bubbly excitement just under the surface was showing through easily.

"Well, come along then, we can talk it over in the dining room."

* * *

><p>"So you want to hire my little Ashy to be one of your Frontier Brains?" Delia was slightly incredulous with a big heaping side order of awe. She had no idea her son was <em>that<em> talented. Taking on Legendaries and winning? She was fit to burst with pride.

"Your son has one of the most unorthodox, unpredictable and effective battle styles I've ever seen, Mrs. Ketchum. He is, quite simply, the most talented individual to enter the Pokémon League in the last decade."

Ash looked at Scott slightly shocked. He had no idea that the man thought so highly of him. "Scott, I don't know what to say, I'm not that good, am I?"

Scott looked at Ash and his mother with a shockingly serious face. "Ash, do you have any idea how rare it is for a trainer as young as you are to consistently advance so far in the competition? You got top sixteen in your very first League ever, afterwards you again advanced far in the Silver conference, this time climbing all the way to top eight. In Hoenn, a region that had many Pokémon that you'd never seen before in your life you advanced to the top eight again. You're the first in the history of the Orange League to ever become Champion. Ever. You're the very first trainer to ever conquer the Kanto Battle Frontier" Scott continued, noticing Ash's shocked expression "Did you think you were the first person to ever attempt it?"

"You did kind of make it sound that way" Ash admitted sheepishly.

"Ash, there have been forty seven trainers before you, none of them have ever defeated Brandon, if they even got that far. You are astoundingly naturally gifted in the art of Pokémon Training and Battling. How much extra training did you put in before your various league competitions?"

"Well" Ash stopped momentarily, blushing in embarrassment "I never actually specifically trained much for the League finals in any of my competitions" Ash continued, his blush worsening at how negligent that sounded to him in hindsight.

"Exactly! Ash, you have what it takes to be one of the best, if not _the_ best Pokémon Trainer in the history of the world if you put more effort into it! Being a Frontier Brain will get both you and your Pokémon immense battle experience. You will, of course, have to face the occasional challenger, probably around fifty a year after you officially start your duties depending on the Brain rotation, but next to being a Gym leader, this will be the best learning experience you could wish for."

Delia was looking slightly shocked after Scott's passionate speech, she had known her baby boy was a good trainer, but her focus had always been on Pokémon research as a student of Professor Oak, never on battling.

Scott continued "But Ash, you need to understand, this is a huge responsibility. You'll need to train your Pokémon harder than ever before. You'll need to support them, nurture them and help them grow to be the most powerful Pokémon that they can be."

Delia finally decided to speak up, placing a comforting hand over Ash's that was sitting limply on the table; she looked Scott in the face and asked a question that had actually been troubling her "what about continuing his journey? If I know my Ash, and I do, he'll want to keep going, and keep competing in Pokémon League Conferences. In fact, Professor Oak was going to tell him about a league that he's never been to before over in Sinnoh. Registration for their next scheduled League starts in five months since the most recent one just ended. Is Ash going to be able to compete in the leagues still?"

Ash got a steely look of determination in his eyes and tore his gaze away from the table to look Scott in the eye "I don't think I'd be able to become a Frontier Brain if it meant giving up my dream of becoming a Pokémon Master, Scott, I'm sorry."

Contrary to what Ash was expecting Scott got a huge, beaming smile on his face "Ash, that is exactly what I was hoping you would say." Noticing confusion starting to cloud Ash's face, he continued, "Ash, I _want_ you to keep competing, the Frontier and Leagues aren't officially connected in any way, and only loosely associated. I want you to keep battling, keep competing and keep striving to be the absolute best trainer that you can be. I want you to be so unbeatable that trainers come from all over the nation to challenge Ash Ketchum, Battle Frontier Brain."

Delia frowned slightly as something occurred to her "This may sound a bit presumptuous, Scott, but what is Ash's pay scale going to be like?"

Ash jerked slightly, breaking out of his daydreams of he and his Pokémon getting better and better, becoming the best trainer in the world and winning leagues. He'd completely forgotten that he was going to be receiving a paycheck for this.

Scott gave a half sinister half gleeful grin; he always enjoyed this part of it. The shock and then utter disbelief that the new Brains always showed at their new salary was an endless source of amusement to him. Pulling out the top document from his folder, he gently slid it across to Delia for her inspection.

Ash looked over his mother's shoulder, trying to make heads or tails of what was in front of him. In this position, he was perfectly situated to catch his mother as she fainted dead away. Slightly panicked, he scanned the document looking for what had put her in this state before his eyes picked out a number. "Uh, Scott, is this your phone number?"

Scott couldn't stop laughing after that question "No Ash! That's your new salary should you accept! The Battle Frontier is a worldwide organization with facilities in twenty three different countries! Our battles are televised to over a hundred different nations all over the world and after your performances, I expect that we'll start getting even more challengers than ever before."

Ash was actually fairly close to hyperventilating. As he felt his mother stirring in his arms he straightened her out in her chair, allowing her to sit up before slumping back down in his own. "Why so many zeroes?"

Scott instantly got serious again, looking Ash straight in the eye and making sure he had his attention before continuing, "Ash, you and your Pokémon are going to be training like you never have before. You're going to be spending the next five years of your life becoming the best trainer you possibly can be before contract renewal comes up. That means giving your Pokémon the best possible medical care, the best possible diet and the best possible training that money can buy. I cannot stress this enough, Ash, if you and your mother sign that document, you will be required to become one of the best Pokémon trainers in the world. Are you ready for that?"

Ash gained an uncustomary serious expression before looking at his constant partner and companion of the last five years. Pikachu looked back at his trainer, his best friend and his brother in everything but species and got a blinding smile on his face "Pi!" getting an energetic nod of approval bolstered Ash's confidence and he looked back at Scott with a solemn face.

"Just one question."

"Anything Ash, anything at all."

"Will I have to wear an outfit like Tucker does?"

After Scott had calmed down and was breathing normally again, he met Ash's gaze and, still grinning replied "No, you won't have to wear a fairy outfit. Honestly, I don't understand that man myself but he's a damn fine battler."

Ash only had one question left "do you have a pen?"

* * *

><p>AN: I see so many Battle Frontier fics where Ash just signs right up, not even considering the consequences or anything at all, and the authors completely ignoring the fact that, as a minor, he cannot sign a contract like that without parental consent. That aside, I'm thinking that Ash would be a traveling Brain for the Frontier, being part of the rotation of whatever region he happens to be in at the time. Not only would this allow him to keep traveling, competing in the leagues and training his Pokemon in various locations, but it would also throw some wrenches at the trainers that are participating in the local Frontiers, could be fun.<p> 


	2. Tobias

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Legendaries. In a Competition. Bullshit.

A/N: This has been bothering me ever since I saw that Tobias swept the Badge challenge and pretty much the entire league with just his Darkrai. I couldn't help but feel that the whole thing was a heaping pile of horse crap.

* * *

><p>"W-wh-wha-what do you mean I can't compete?"<p>

The voice rang out across the crowded registration hall on Lily of the Valley Island. Heads turned all over the room to glance in the direction it came from, but promptly lost interest in the happenings and looked away.

Tobias was in utter shock. They weren't going to allow him to enter the Conference? What was this insanity? He had the badges, but as soon as he'd turned them over to the Nurse Joy at the registration desk he'd been informed that he was barred from the competition!

"I'm sorry, sir, it was determined that, after you had obtained your eighth Gym badge by using only your Darkrai, that Pokémon that are considered Legendary in rarity and untrained power are no longer legal in sanctioned Pokémon League competitions." The nurse didn't look apologetic in any way. "There are trainers here from all over Japan that have been training for months, or even years, for a chance to win the Lily of the Valley Conference. You've had that Darkrai for less than three months. If you, or anyone else for that matter, entered with a Legendary Pokémon and swept the competition, how do you think it would make every other entrant feel after all of the hard work they and their Pokémon put in training?"

The nurse paused, snapping his Badge case closed before setting it under the counter, he barely registered that she hadn't returned it to him.

"Sir, unless you have a team of at least six, non Legendary-status Pokémon that you can register for the tournament then I'm going to have to ask you to step out of line to allow the person behind you to register."

Tobias was completely speechless. He'd trained his Hitmonchan specifically to capture his Darkrai, which he then used to capture his Latios. The only other Pokémon he had were three that he'd just caught so he could register, a Starly, Bidoof and Geodude. He hadn't trained them at all!

"But, but I have Legendary Pokémon! That should count for something; people would love to see them compete!" The nurse actually looked like she pitied him!

"Sir, I'm sure people would love to see your Pokémon in battle. That, however, does not excuse you to enter the tournament. As I stated earlier, allowing you to register with a Legendary Pokémon would give you an unfair advantage over all of the other competitors, it's a big change, yes, but it also makes sense. Every conference in the entire world has adopted this policy, Mr. Tobias. No exceptions."

Tobias raised a trembling hand to his hair and combed it through his silver locks. His plan was in ruins! He'd specifically caught Darkrai and Latios to win this competition and get a chance at the Elite Four and Champion title so he could have eternal glory. It was so unfair!

He jerkily fixed his gaze back on the Nurse Joy behind the desk and realized she still had his badge case "Cou-could I have my badges back please? I need to go cancel my hotel reservation."

The nurse gave a minute grin and shook her head back and forth "Apologies Mr. Tobias, but the League is confiscating your badges because they were earned via Legendary and you didn't show any actual skill in raising powerful Pokémon to earn them. If you want to enter the competition again you'll have to re-earn all of your badges using Pokémon that are not classified as Legendaries and try again. Next!"

Tobias was roughly shoved aside as the trainer behind him advanced to the desk, he vaguely heard a muttered "Finally!", but he wasn't paying any attention. His world was too busy crumbling around him. He'd spent years working to capture Darkrai and then Latios. Years to find them and then months to seek them out and capture them. All for nothing. What was he going to do now?

* * *

><p>AN: Yea. I thought the whole thing with Tobias was the biggest pile of bull shit ever. The guy is competing against people that have been training, sacrificing and working their asses off for months or years just to get ready for this competition, and he sweeps it with a fucking Legendary? How fucked up is that? What's going to happen during the Unova competition? Someone going to enter with fucking Arceus?<p>

Also: Him having Darkrai to specifically capture Latios makes sense, since Latios is a part Psychic type and one of his Darkrai's confirmed moves is Ice Beam.


	3. Master of the Waves

Disclaimer: I own none of the Intellectual Properties represented in the following document.

AN: So I was going through the various types last night trying to figure out what I wanted to do on my first play through of White 2 and settled on Water types. Then I got to thinking of how versatile and awesome the different Water Pokémon are, from Octillery that can learn Flamethrower and Energy Ball to Lanturn, who's completely immune to electric attacks, and that's not even mentioning the Water/Ground monstrosities.

Master of the Waves

Break

An eight year old Ash Ketchum laughed as he ran across the beach with his friend Gary Oak, under the watchful eye of his mother. Crashing into the water, the two children started to splash each other, avoiding the little fish and Pokémon that inhabited the Pallet beach front.

A few hours later the kids were eating a lunch prepared by Delia Ketchum on a beach blanket spread across the sand. It was a peaceful afternoon, and a scenic view. Summer had just started and the beach was a little crowded, but being Pallet town, everyone knew each other, so it wasn't an issue. The boys were watching, absolutely enraptured, as various Pokémon related activities were taking place around them. Multiple trainers who were moving through Pallet going either to or from the Cinnabar Islands and surrounding chains were battling up and down the beach, or capturing Pokémon that they caught on rods.

"I can't wait to get my own Pokémon" Gary stated wistfully, watching as two trainers battled their Dewgong against each other.

Ash grinned back, turning away from the surf momentarily "I bet I'll get a Pokémon before you do!"

"Nuh uh!" Gary puffed out his cheeks "we'll be getting Pokémon on the same day, my Gramps said so!"

"I bet I can catch mine right now!" Ash retorted, and took off running towards the water.

Gary watched stupefied as his friend bolted for the water, "you won't catch anything without a Pokéball!"

Ash ignored him, and jumped right into the waves going beneath the water to find his perfect starter Pokémon. Swimming down he looked around, slightly disappointed that his awesome starter wasn't popping right out and declaring him its friend for life right way. Just as his air was running out and he was set to ascend and admit defeat, Ash noticed an extremely large blue and yellow rock, grabbing it, mostly because it looked pretty more than anything else; he brought it back to the surface with him. He came face to face with an angry Delia Ketchum in the process.

"Ash Ketchum!" the child winced at the tone "what have I told you about leaving my sight while at the beach?!"

Ash looked down at the large rock, which didn't seem to weigh as much as a rock at all, in his hands and mumbled his reply "not to."

"Exactly! And what did you just do, young man?"

"What you told me not to do…" Ash almost pouted, he needed a Pokémon so he could get one over on Gary!

"We're going to have a talk about this when we get home mist- what do you have there?" Delia's tone almost immediately changed over to curious instead of furious.

"I found it under water! Isn't it pretty?"

Leaning down to her son's level, Delia Ketchum, former understudy of Samuel Oak, PhD. muttered a quiet "oh dear" before grabbing her son's unoccupied hand and leading him back over to Gary.

"I told you that you wouldn't find a Pokémon, Ashy Boy."

"I found this!" Ash exclaimed, holding up his rock eagerly.

"Ash!" his mother's voice cracked like a whip, making him wince slightly "Be careful with that! It's a Pokémon egg and we have no idea what kind of condition the baby Pokémon is in, you need to be gentle."

Ash gazed down at the egg in his hands in wonder "a Pokémon egg? Whoa…"

Gary was standing beside him, looking on in almost equal wonder before shrugging "it's probably just a Magikarp, nothing to get excited about."

"Come on, boys" Delia started, gathering their bag over her shoulder "we need to take that to Samuel."

Break

It had been a week and a half since Ash had found the egg beneath the waves. Standing as he was, in front of the incubation machine in Professor Oak's laboratory he couldn't help but still be fascinated with it. He'd gone below the waves, not really expecting anything spectacular, maybe a small Krabby that he could show to Gary. But this… that the sea had provided him with something as awesome as a new life to look after was amazing to his childlike curiosity. He wouldn't rest until whatever was within hatched and came out to greet the world.

Almost as if the entity inside the egg was sensing the eight-year-old's thoughts, it started to shake, and a slight crack appeared on its outer shell. Ash stood transfixed for a moment before he did the only thing he could really think of "Professor!" He screamed.

Samuel Oak had lived for a while now; he'd raised his children and helped them raise theirs in turn. He was no stranger to young ones calling for assistance. So when he heard young Ash yell out for him, he calmly placed the instruments he was using to measure a Persian's fangs down on the examination table, patted the cat Pokémon's head and told it to stay before walking out of the room and down to the nursery.

Turning the corner into the room, he was almost shocked by what he saw. Standing there, bold as brass, was young Ash Ketchum holding a cooing bundle of blue that was snuggling into the child's chest as if it was the best thing ever.

"He likes me, can I keep him?" Ash asked with wide, innocent eyes.

Chuckling, the Professor did the next best thing to answering, passed the buck. "We'll ask your mom about that one, Ash."

"Mudkip!"


	4. Master of the Waves Two

Disclaimer: I own none of the Intellectual Properties represented in the following document.

AN: Part two. Ash leaves on his journey.

Break

Ash Ketchum, ten year old, was panicking. He couldn't believe that, on today of all days, he'd overslept. Running down the road with a large blue bundle clinging to his back, peaking over his shoulder, he dodged adults and children alike.

"Excuse me! Coming through! Sorry Mrs. Simmons!"

"Ash!" the aforementioned retired trainer barked out, causing the young man to skid to a halt. Patricia Simmons smiled gently at the child in front of her, he'd forgotten to change. "You already have your starter, child, there's no reason to be panicky."

"Right, sorry Mrs. Simmons. I'm just so excited about going on my journey!"

Patricia gave the kid a gentle smile and patted him on the head "I remember when I was your age, just starting out… ah that little Beldum of mine was so mischievous. Though I'm so out of practice nowadays that you could probably beat me."

Ash didn't even pretend to hide a snort of disbelief that erupted, causing the old lady to smirk deviously. "Yea, right, put my Marshtomp, who doesn't have any official battle experience up against your monstrosity of a Metagross. No thank you, Mrs. S."

The woman in front of him swiped at his head as he dodged and started running again, towards the Oak Laboratories. "Bye Mrs. Simmons! I'll come back to challenge you when I have a Crawdaunt or Marshtomp has evolved again!"

Patricia Simmons, retired Pokémon Trainer and old friend and sparring partner of Agatha of the Elite Four smiled at his retreating form "impudent brat."

Break

After confronting Gary at the gate, and learning that he'd chosen a Squirtle (no doubt to try and prove that he was better at raising water types than Ash was), Ash barged into the reception room, hands on his knees and greeted Professor Oak in gasping breaths.

"I-I-I'm h-here, Pr-Professor!"

"Ah Ash" Samuel started "late, just as I expected you would be."

Catching his breath, Ash straightened up, Marshtomp hopping off of his back and wandering out to the yard to greet some other Pokémon "you knew I'd be late?"

"Yes" Oak continued in a musing tone "your mother called me last night and told me how late you'd stayed up. I've raised enough children to know you'd be getting here late."

"Oh…" Ash pouted for a moment, before perking up and bouncing on his toes "I'm ready to get my Pokédex and registration ready, Professor!"

"Yes, I'd assumed you were" the Professor started "even though you're still in your pajamas…" and trailed off.

Ash glanced down at his blue pajamas with water Pokémon all over them and back up and the Professor "don't care, Pokédex time."

Grinning at the boy's priorities, or total lack thereof, Professor Oak pulled open a drawer and withdrew a box labeled "Ash K." Opening the container, Samuel pulled out an advanced hand-held computer. Turning it on, he handed it to the child "follow the instructions that pop up on the screen while I register you with the league. You are going to be a trainer, not a coordinator, correct?"

Ash looked up from locking in his finger prints to respond "trainer, yes" before returning to his task.

"Marshtomp is your starter" Oak mumbled to himself as we went about his task "home town is Pallet Town, first conference is Indigo League. Everything looks to be in order young man."

"I'm done here" Ash responded, handing the Pokédex back to the professor "I just gotta find Marshtomp so you can get his measurements" the kid looked down at his clothes and smiled sheepishly "and changed."

Break

A few hours and an embarrassing scene at the gate of Professor Oak's laboratory later, and Ash was trekking down the bank of the river that ran to the ocean. He'd done this a lot over the years, wandering up and down the tributary with Marshtomp. It was where his little Mudkip had grown up, defending him from an angry Krabby around seven months ago.

Looking over his shoulder at the Marshtomp clinging to his back, Ash grinned and gave his first instruction as a real trainer "go find him, buddy."

The face looking back at him grinned and responded "marsh!" before jumping into the river. They had a friend they'd made that Ash had promised to pick up. A few minutes of waiting later, Marshtomp jumped out of the water with a cry of triumph and a large fountain of water came up behind him.

Listlessly floating in the water was, quite possibly, the biggest Magikarp Ash had ever heard of. He could easily get on its back and ride it, he'd done so before. Ash and Marshtomp had first encountered this particular Magikarp about three weeks after Marshtomp had hatched as a Mudkip, when they'd saved it from a hunting Meowth that wanted an easy snack. Ash and Marshtomp had been feeding and playing with it ever since, and the constant meals from Mrs. Ketchum's kitchen had helped it grow to a truly abnormal size.

"Hey buddy! You ready to go?"

The fish gave a loud "karp!" and leapt from the water, slamming down on the bank next to Ash, leaving a huge divot in the mud.

Laughing, Ash pulled out one of the basic Pokéballs that Professor Oak had supplied to him, and, reaching as high as he could, touched between Magikarp's eyes, catching the giant Pokémon with no struggle at all.

The new trainer was grinning like a loon, smiling down at his new Pokémon when he heard a voice behind him "holy crap! That thing was massive!"

Looking back over his shoulder, Ash saw a girl with orange hair, short shorts and suspenders standing on the raised bank, fishing pole in hand with a bicycle behind her.

Smiling with his hand behind his head, Ash chuckled embarrassedly "yea, he grew pretty big didn't he?"

The girl didn't let up, eyes still wide "if I'd stopped here a couple of hours ago I could have caught that Magikarp!"

Ash shook his head negatively "no you wouldn't have" he said, and continued on noticing her rather dangerous expression "he knows not to bite on to fishing lures, and wouldn't have come near the surface if Marshtomp hadn't gone down to get him", the blue Pokémon at his side cried in agreement.

"Oh, well that's too bad. I could really use a good Magikarp."

"Any Magikarp can be good, you just need to take the time and have the patience to raise them properly."

The mystery girl smiled at his attitude "true, my mother used to tell some pretty amazing stories about her Gyarados that she rose from a Magikarp."

"Ah! Sorry, I haven't introduced myself. Barely a day into my journey and I'm already forgetting my manners, my mom would have my head. Ash Ketchum" he started, extending a hand "future Water type Master!"

The girl got a devilish glint to her eye and grabbed his hand, pumping twice "Misty Waterflower, same."


End file.
